Feb

27

How to Stop Hating Your Ex

Filed Under Dating, Family, Parenting | Leave a Comment

René Ashton is the author of How to Stop Hating Your Ex: So You Can Co-Parent in Peace. René is also an actress who has appeared in more than 70 commercials and two dozen television shows like Nip/Tuck, CSI, 7th Heaven and Dexter.

René joined us to discuss her book and provide valuable advice for all those parents out there who haven’t quite figured out how to play nice with their ex and put their children first.

Listen to the interview here.

Subscribe to SistersTalk Radio on iTunes here.

Feb

18

Lesbian Web Series ‘Anyone But Me’ Executive Producers on SistersTalk Radio

Filed Under Entertainment, Family, Lesbian Podcast | Leave a Comment

Lesbian web series ‘Anyone But Me’ explores the life of 16 year old lesbian, Vivian McMillan. When Vivian has to move from New York City to the suburbs, her relationships, past and present, are tested. And her identity goes through seismic changes.

This moving, funny, and relevant new drama speaks to all ages and hearts as it follows the journey of six teenagers and the adults who try to understand them.

Executive Producers Susan Miller and Tina Cesa Ward joined us on SistersTalk Radio to discuss the series.

Featured indie musician: Nicky Click

Jan

14

Child Prostitution – The Plight of Throwaway Queer Youth

Filed Under Family, LGBT, Parenting, Podcast | Leave a Comment

Justin Reed Early spent his childhood as a homeless youth on the streets of Seattle and was a credited participant in the Academy-nominated movie STREETWISE (1984). Justin is an avid supporter of homeless youth and human rights issues and currently resides in Los Angeles, CA.  He joined us on SistersTalk Radio to discuss:

http://sisterstalk.net/justinreed.mp3

*His childhood; how he ended up homeless at the age of 10

*Why homeless kids turn to prostitution to survive

*Statistics associated with homeless queer youth

*Areas of the country where homeless youth are more prevalent

*What’s happening with social service programs for homeless youth

*The importance of mentors, how they can help homeless kids

*His book, STREETCHILD

You can learn more about Justin Reed Early on his web site.

Dec

8

Secretly Monitoring Your Partner’s Web Activity; Discussing Venice 1.01 – She Said She Said #26

Filed Under Book Review, Culture, Dating, Family, Lesbian Podcast, Parenting, Podcast | Leave a Comment

She Said, She Said is a podcast featuring lesbian couple Genia and Andrea. Genia is the host of SistersTalk Radio and Andrea is the assistant producer.

In Monday’s segment, we discussed:

*Analysis: Venice 1.01
*Book discussion: My Miserable Lonely Lesbian Pregnancy (by Andrea Askowitz)
*Listener submitted question: How can I tell when my girlfriend is lying to me?
*Parenting: When your teenager sneaks out the house at 1am
*Using WebWatcher to secretly monitor your partner’s web activity

Dec

1

Our Trip Home to Georgia; We Didn’t Break Up, So That’s Good

Filed Under Family, Lesbian Podcast, Lesbians | 1 Comment

This is followup for the Heading Home After 13 Years to Face My Demons blog post I did on November 24. In this podcast we discuss:

*What Andrea did that had me ticked off within 1 hour of leaving Wisconsin
*Just how cranky I was in the car for 15 whole long hours
*The holiday food
*The gigantic 198 ft cross we saw in Effingham, IL
*My lovable and dysfunctional family
*The temper tantrum my 17 year-old son had when it was time to head home

Hit the play button to listen to us talk about our adventure.

Nov

24

Heading Home After 13 Years to Face My Demons

Filed Under Family, Parenting | 6 Comments

I was born and raised in Waynesboro, a small town in Georgia.

Population: 5,874.  Race demographics: Black (62.5%), White Non-Hispanic (35.6%), Hispanic (1.2%), Two or more races (1.0%).

I never had time to hate that small town because I spent most of my time reading and daydreaming about graduation day:  the day I’d leave Waynesboro and never look back.

My mother was extremely physically abusive.  She beat me with telephone extension cords, orange electrical cords, her fists and anything else she knew would cause harm.  She denies this ever happened and claims I’ve made it all up in my head.  I don’t know if that’s her way of coping with the guilt, but what I do know is that it took years for me to “get over it” – whatever it was . . . whatever she claims it wasn’t.

For several years after high school graduation, I tried returning home for special occasions.  Everytime I returned, my mother tried to hurt me.  Since she couldn’t beat me anymore, she tried hurting me with insults -  nasty words she’d throw at me in front of my then-husband and kids.   In April 1996, I decided I didn’t need her and I didn’t need home.   I haven’t been home since then.

In 2002, I tried reconciling with my mother.  I flew her to Wisconsin.  The plan was for her to spend 2 weeks with me and her grandchildren.  The visit lasted 3 days.  I put her on a plane and sent her home, asking that she not contact me again until she learned how to respect the adult person I’ve become.  We’ve spoken very little since that day.  I don’t answer my phone when the caller ID shows a Georgia area code.  I always make the call go to voice mail.

Three months ago I decided it was time to go home again.  My grandmother suffered 3 strokes in the past 2 years and I’d like to see her before she dies.  My youngest sister got married and has two small children I’ve never seen.  My other sister has two girls who are the same age as my children; our kids should get to know each other.   The pain I felt for years growing up in my mother’s home has passed.  It’s time to move on.

I’ve accepted that my mother is who she is and, most likely, she’ll never change.  It’s wrong to avoid my entire family because my mother has a whole lot of hate in her heart for me.  It’s wrong to keep my children away from their entire family because my mother and I are not friends.

Andrea, my kids and I are heading to Georgia tomorrow morning.  We’re all very excited.  The boys are excited they’ll finally get to meet “the Black side” of their family. They only know their father’s side of the family.  I never realized how important it was to them to make that connection until they lit up with excitement when I told them we were going home for Thanksgiving.   I plan to blog each day’s experience so I have something to look back on when I need a reminder that while family dynamics may be complicated, it’s extremely important (and comforting) to remain connected.



Check out She Said, She Said

Featured on SistersTalk Radio